This invention is directed to swimpants and swimsuits for pre-toilet trained children. More particularly, the swimwear includes a biocidal or filtration agent for the purpose of killing or immobilizing microorganisms.
Swim pants and swimsuits for pre-toilet trained children are designed to contain urine and bowel movements prior to swimming, just like ordinary diapers and training pants. Even though the absorbent swimwear is designed to prevent leakage of urine and bowel movements out of the garment and leakage of swim water into the garment, swim water inevitably tends to make its way into the garment. The swim water inside the garment mixes with the urine and bowel movements inside the garment and may re-enter the swimming environment along with microorganisms originating in the urine and bowel movements.
There is a need or desire for an absorbent swimwear garment that prevents the escape of active microorganisms into the swim water.
The present invention is directed to a pant-like absorbent swimwear garment, such as a swim pant or a swimsuit, that includes a biocidal or filtration agent to kill or immobilize microorganisms, thereby preventing the escape of active microorganisms into the swim water. More particularly, a filtration agent, or binding agent, can be attached to an outer cover, an absorbent assembly, or a body side liner, or another component of the garment such as a waist dam, a containment flap, or the like. The binding agent is capable of immobilizing microorganisms such as E. coli and other fecal associated bacteria, fungi and protozoans. A biocidal agent, or antimicrobial agent, can also be attached to the outer cover, the absorbent assembly, or the body side liner of the garment.
In one embodiment of the invention, a waist dam is constructed from a porous nonwoven web which contains a binding agent. The waist dam acts as a filter, filtering swim water as it leaves the garment through the waist dam. In another embodiment of the invention, a waist dam is constructed from a non-porous material with the binding agent fixed on the inner surfaces of the garment. In this embodiment, water exchange between the inside and outside of the garment is limited, thus providing sufficient time to immobilize the microorganisms. Alternatively, an antimicrobial agent can be attached to the waist dam.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, the garment includes a pair of containment flaps around the leg openings of the garment. The containment flaps provide additional protection against leakage. A binding agent and/or an antimicrobial agent can be attached to the containment flaps.
The resulting product is an absorbent swimwear garment that provides microbial management in the form of binding agents and/or antimicrobial agents attached to any one or more components of the swimwear garment. These binding agents and antimicrobial agents immobilize or kill microorganisms originating in the waste products deposited by the wearer in the absorbent garment, thereby resulting in reduced contamination of the swim water.
With the foregoing in mind, it is a feature and advantage of the invention to provide an absorbent swimwear garment with a microbial management system.